YORKTON - Old baseballs – really old baseballs – those dating back to the 1800s are hard to find.
But, what if you could replicate the vintage balls crafting them by hand?
That was a question Don Droke, a farmer from Tennessee, asked himself several years ago – finally taking up the challenge to become a baseball crafter.
For Droke it was sort of something which emerge through his genes.
“I grew up in a baseball family,” he told Yorkton This Week in a recent interview.
Droke’s grandfather played for a team in Sullivan County in the 1930s, his father played at East Tennessee State University in the 1950s and he himself coached a Sullivan East team into the early 2000s.
“I still go out and play catch with my Dad’s glove.”
Droke is also a Civil War re-enactor.
“I knew I was living on a Confederate farm,” he said, adding that was the hook to that hobby.
Somewhere along the way the two interests began to merge, led by his undying love of baseball.
“I started collecting baseball cards when I was little,” he said, adding he walked away from that hobby when he saw interest flagging.
Droke began turning his cards into vintage baseball gloves those dating back to the early 1900s. His collection as such grew and at one point numbered about 300.
But slowly he has been selling off more common, lower value gloves, using the money from several sales to simply buy better specimens. His collection is now at about 75, including endorsed gloves of Honus Wagner and Lou Gehrig.
Droke said he loves his gloves being able to actually put a piece of history on his hand.
“I can put it on my hand and it’s something made way before Orville and Wilber (Wright) ever flew . . . It’s something from before the Titanic was ever built. . . I could go out and play catch with them if I wanted to,” he said, adding if he drops a glove a corner isn’t damaged and its value impacted.
Baseballs though are a little harder to find.
Droke said he wanted a ball from the Civil War era – the 1860s -- which tied to his other hobby.
“I found one at around $2,000,” he said, adding his wife wasn’t enamoured with the idea of spending two grand on an old ball.
“So I decided to make one,” he said.
Droke researched the process, finally gathering some leather, and setting to work.
The early efforts were – well failures.
Droke related how across the road from his farm is basically a field of bush.
“I hurled the ball into the bush and went back inside and tried making another one,” he said, estimating 10 or 15 balls are still rotting away in that bush.
“I kept persevering,” he said, adding in time he had “an epiphany.”
That flash of brilliance was to use the leather of old baseball gloves.
“I could make a ball out of the leather,” he said, adding while a few more baseballs headed to the bush he was making progress.
Droke said the process is very much the circle of life in terms of baseball.
“I take a glove with no value and that glove becomes a ball. It’s the circle of baseball life,” he said. Then he found a glue – one he said was a secret – although in what might be a Tennessee tall tale hinted it might be something made from a road kill o’possum – the process smoothed and balls suddenly went from being tossed into the bush to coveted collectibles.
Droke found quickly others wanted his handmade replicas and so he began selling them first for $50 the $75 and then if you send the old glove for the leather $125. He said he could charge more, but he crafts balls for reasons not associated with making money.
While admitting “I like incandescent lights and a hot water heater,” so making some money is of course important, getting which is not the goal. “. . . I’ve been rewarded many times over.
Of course since Droke remains an ardent glove collector some gloves he will not cut up for a ball. He related he received a Joe DiMaggio glove to make a ball.
“Oh hell no. I sat down and cleaned it up, re-laced it, and sent it back to him. I’m a glove collector first,” he said.
So how long does it take for Droke to craft a ball?
“It depends if my cows are out, and I’m a trophy husband so I have to take care of my pretty bride,” responded the storyteller.
Then turning slightly more serious, Droke said the process starts with deconstructing the old glove, cleaning the leather, and other prep work, which is followed by spending time sewing over a couple of days, and then adding personal touches, like autographs. In total likely six to eight hours.
“I make each one like its going to be mine.”
Overall, it’s been a wild ride.
Droke has made a ball for Johnny Bench. As a devoted Cincinnati fan that was huge.
Another ball is in the Reds Hall of Fame.
Then there was two balls for the daughters of Gil Hodges.
And a ball went to a modern Red too – Canadian Joey Votto.
“Who doesn’t like Joey Votto,” said Droke.
The ball he sent to Votto is about as unique as one can get.
Droke said an RCMP member had send a worn-out pair of boots to him to create a ball. He had enough material to make the Votto ball, which he personalized with a drawing of a horse head and the name Nibbles, relating back to an interview Votto did on MLB Network's "Intentional Talk" wearing RCMP red serge.
“It’s just been mind blowing,” related Droke. “. . . This is a fairy tale. . . I can’t believe what has happened to me.”
While the major league connections are exciting, Droke said he is most-honoured when someone wants a baseball made from their father’s glove in his honour, adding he feels pressure “replicating a father’s autograph.
“Do you know how much of an honour that is for me – just wow!” he said.
